Method of manufacturing dew formation preventing member and refrigerator and evaporator having dew formation preventing member

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing member having a super water repellent surface of the present invention comprises the steps of: mixing a particular paint and polytetrafluorethylene at a predetermined ratio; particulate painting the mixed paint on a substrate surface; and heat treating the particulate painted substrate. A method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing member having a super water repellent surface according to another aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: immersing a substrate in an electro deposition paint, and applying a direct current to conduct electro deposition painting; heat treating the substrate that has undergone the electro deposition painting; and plasma treating the surface of the substrate that has undergone the electro deposition painting.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a dewformation preventing member and a refrigerator and an evaporator havinga dew formation preventing member manufactured in accordance with themethod.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator is an appliance for storing food in afreezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment at a fresh statefor a long time. To this end, the refrigerator cools a storagecompartment such as the freezing compartment or the refrigeratingcompartment by using the cool air generated by heat exchange with arefrigerant that circulates a freezing cycle. Therefore, the inside ofthe storage compartment of the refrigerator is generally maintained at atemperature lower than that of the outside.

The freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment are providedinside a cabinet constituting a main body of the refrigerator andselectively opened or closed by a freezing compartment door and arefrigerating compartment door. Since a temperature inside the freezingcompartment and a temperature inside the refrigerating compartment arelower than that of the external air, dew may be formed near a portionwhere the door is in contact with the cabinet at the front of thecabinet in accordance with a temperature difference between the insideand the outside of the refrigerator.

To prevent dew from being formed on an external surface of therefrigerator, a heat is provided and heated at a portion where dew islikely to be formed. This heater for preventing dew from being formed isparticularly required to prevent dew from being formed on a frontsurface of a pillar for filling up a gap between two adjacent doors whenthe two doors are closed in a refrigerator that opens or close onestorage compartment by means of the two doors.

In addition to simple refrigerating and freezing functions, asadditional function, a dispenser may be provided in the door of therefrigerator to supply cool water, hot water or ice from water suppliedfrom the outside. An ice maker for making ice from water which issupplied may be provided inside the refrigerating compartment or thefreezing compartment or in the door of the refrigerating compartment orthe freezing compartment.

The dispenser includes an ice maker for making ice, an ice dischargeduct connected with the ice maker, outwardly dispensing ice made by theice maker in accordance with a user's selection, and a duct cap forselectively opening or closing an outlet at a lower end of the icedischarge duct.

Since the duct cap is exposed to the outside, if the duct cap is openedby the user, ice dispensed through the ice discharge duct may beobtained.

The ice maker of the dispenser and the inside of the ice discharge ductare maintained at a temperature below zero to make ice and keep the icetherein. However, since the outside of the duct cap is in contact withthe external air, dew is likely to be formed on an inner surface of theduct cap.

To prevent dew from being formed, a heater is provided inside the ductcap to heat the surface of the duct cap, whereby dew is prevented frombeing formed on the surface of the duct cap.

If a heating wire is used as a dew formation preventing heater, sincethe heating wire emits heat by being supplied with a power, problemsoccur in that power consumption is increased and heat generated from theheater is permeated into the refrigerator to increase a temperature ofthe storage compartment.

Therefore, the dew formation preventing heater is periodically drivenfor a predetermined time, or is controlled to be driven by measurementof an outer atmospheric temperature only under the condition that dew isformed.

Also, through interworking with an operation of a compressor, the heatermay be driven if the operator is being driven, and the heater may not bedriven if not so.

However, if the portion where dew is formed has a property that dew isless formed or not formed in view of its surface property, since theamount of dew which is formed may be reduced and the heater is able tobe driven for a short time, power consumption may be reduced.

Meanwhile, the evaporator cools the peripheral air by heat exchange withthe peripheral air in accordance with evaporation of a refrigerantmoving inside a refrigerant pipe. Since the refrigerant pips is verycolder than the peripheral temperature, frost is generates in therefrigerant pipe.

Therefore, a defrost heater is provided near the evaporator and performsdefrost operation for operating the defrost heater to periodicallyremove frost.

However, since the operation of the compressor should be stopped duringdefrost operation, the temperature inside the storage compartment isincreased, and power consumption for operating the defrost heater isincreased.

Therefore, the evaporator needs to have surface property that dew orfrost is less formed on the surface. In this case, the amount of frostwhich is generated may be reduced remarkably, and therefore an operationrate of the defrost heater may be reduced.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is devised to solve the aforementioned problems ofthe related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide amethod of manufacturing a member having a super water repellent orsuperhydrophilic surface property to be attached to a portion where dewis likely to be formed and to allow dew to be less or little formed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator inwhich a member having a super water repellent or superhydrophilicsurface property is applied to a pillar, an ice discharge duct switchingunit of a dispenser, or a front surface of a cabinet and a barrier.

Other object of the present invention is to provide an evaporator inwhich a member having a super water repellent surface property isapplied to a refrigerant pipe.

Technical Solution

To achieve the objects, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, a method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing membercomprises the steps of mixing a powder paint with polytetrafluorethyleneat a predetermined ratio; powder painting the mixed paint on a substratesurface; and heat treating the powder painted substrate.

Preferably, the powder paint and the polytetrafluorethylene are mixedwith each other at a ratio of 1:1 to 4:1.

Preferably, the powder paint is an epoxy polyester based thermalhardening powder paint.

Preferably, a constant voltage applied to a powder painting equipmentduring the powder painting step is 60kV to 80kV.

Preferably, the heat treating step includes a primary heat treatmentstep for heating in a vacuum oven of 170° C. to 190° C. for 25 minutesto 35 minutes; a secondary heat treatment step for heating on a hotplate of 250° C. to 300° C. for 10 minutes to 20 minutes, and a thirdheat treatment step for heating by using a heating gun of 450° C. to550° C.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of ultrasonic cleaningthe substrate by using acetone and deionized water before the mixingstep.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of coating a primer onthe substrate surface to reinforce adhesion between powder paints afterthe ultrasonic cleaning step.

Preferably, the primer coating step includes coating the primer byspraying the primer on the substrate surface, and heat treating in avacuum oven at a temperature of about 100° C. to 140° C.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of cleaning the heattreated substrate surface using deionized water after the heat treatingstep.

Preferably, the mixed paint further includes a perfluoroalkoxy enamelpowder.

Preferably, the polytetrafluorethylene and the perfluoroalkoxy enamelpowder are mixed with each other at a ratio of 1:1 to 1:2.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing adew formation preventing member comprises the steps of immersing asubstrate in an electro deposition paint, and applying a direct currentvoltage to perform electro deposition painting; heat treating thesubstrate painted with the electro deposition paint; and plasma treatingthe surface of the substrate painted with the electro deposition paint.

Preferably, the electro paint includes melamine formaldehyde as an anodeelectro deposition paint, and includes aromatic polyurethane as acathode electro deposition paint.

Preferably, the heat treating step performs heating by using a heatinggun of 250° C. to 350° C. to harden the electro deposition paint.

Preferably, the plasma treating step etches the surface painted with theelectro deposition paint in a vacuum chamber using argon plasma of aradio frequency power of 100 W to 300 W for 5 minutes to 200 minutes.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of ultrasonic cleaningthe substrate using acetone and deionized water before the electrodeposition painting step.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of cleaning thesubstrate using deionized water after the electro deposition paintingstep.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of natural cooling thesubstrate to reach a room temperature by taking the substrate out of thevacuum chamber after the plasma treating step.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of cleaning thesurface of the substrate painted with electro deposition paint using anitrogen gun after the natural cooling step.

In still another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeratorcomprises a cabinet having a storage compartment therein; a first doorrotatably provided at one side of the cabinet, opening or closing oneside of the storage compartment; a second door rotatably provided at theother side of the cabinet, opening or closing the other side of thestorage compartment; a pillar rotatably provided in the second door,sealing a gap between the first door and the second door when the firstdoor and the second door area closed; and a heater provided inside thepillar, heating a front surface of the pillar to prevent dew from beingformed, wherein a dew formation preventing member having a super waterrepellent surface manufactured in accordance with the aforementionedmanufacturing method is attached to the front surface of the pillar.

In further still another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeratorcomprises a cabinet having a storage compartment therein; a first doorrotatably provided at one side of the cabinet, opening or closing oneside of the storage compartment; a second door rotatably provided at theother side of the cabinet, opening or closing the other side of thestorage compartment; a pillar rotatably provided in the second door,sealing a gap between the first door and the second door when the firstdoor and the second door area closed; and a heater provided inside thepillar, heating a front surface of the pillar to prevent dew from beingformed, wherein a dew formation preventing member having asuperhydrophilic surface manufactured in accordance with theaforementioned manufacturing method is attached to the front surface ofthe pillar.

In further still another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeratorcomprises a cabinet having a storage compartment therein; a door in thecabinet, opening or closing the storage compartment; an ice makerprovided in the storage compartment or the door; a dispenser provided inthe door, selectively providing ice made by the ice maker; an icedischarge duct connected between the ice maker and the dispenser,forming a path where ice moves; a switching unit provided at a lower endof the ice discharge duct, opening or closing the lower end of the icedischarge duct; and a heater provided in the switching unit, heating anouter surface of the switching unit to prevent dew from being formed,wherein a dew formation preventing member having a super water repellentsurface manufactured in accordance with the manufacturing method isattached to the outer surface of the switching unit.

In further still another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeratorcomprises a cabinet having a storage compartment therein; a door in thecabinet, opening or closing the storage compartment; an ice makerprovided in the storage compartment or the door; a dispenser provided inthe door, selectively providing ice made by the ice maker; an icedischarge duct connected between the ice maker and the dispenser,forming a path where ice moves; a switching unit provided at a lower endof the ice discharge duct, opening or closing the lower end of the icedischarge duct; and a heater provided in the switching unit, heating anouter surface of the switching unit to prevent dew from being formed,wherein a dew formation preventing member having a superhydrophilicsurface manufactured in accordance with the aforementioned method isattached to the outer surface of the switching unit.

In further still another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeratorcomprises a cabinet having a freezing compartment and a refrigeratingcompartment therein; a barrier for partitioning the freezing compartmentand the refrigerating compartment from each other; a freezingcompartment door provided at one side of the cabinet, opening or closingthe freezing compartment; a refrigerating compartment door provided atthe other side of the cabinet, opening or closing the refrigeratingcompartment; and a heater provided inside the barrier and the cabinet toprevent dew from being formed by heating a front surface of the barrierand a front surface of the cabinet, wherein a dew formation preventingmember having a super water repellent surface manufactured in accordancewith the aforementioned method is attached to the front surface of thebarrier and the front surface of the cabinet.

In further still another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeratorcomprises a cabinet having a freezing compartment and a refrigeratingcompartment therein; a barrier for partitioning the freezing compartmentand the refrigerating compartment from each other; a freezingcompartment door provided at one side of the cabinet, opening or closingthe freezing compartment; a refrigerating compartment door provided atthe other side of the cabinet, opening or closing the refrigeratingcompartment; and a heater provided inside the barrier and the cabinet toprevent dew from being formed by heating a front surface of the barrierand a front surface of the cabinet, wherein a dew formation preventingmember having a superhydrophilic surface manufactured in accordance withthe aforementioned method is attached to the front surface of thebarrier and the front surface of the cabinet.

In further still another aspect of the present invention, an evaporatorcomprises a refrigerant pipe in which a refrigerant moves, provided tobe heat exchanged with the air moving near the refrigerant; a pair ofholders for fixing the refrigerant pipe; pins provided on an outersurface of the refrigerant pipe, expediting heat exchange; and a defrostheater provided near the refrigerant pipe, performing heating to removefrost generated in the refrigerant pipe and the pins, wherein therefrigerant pipe, the pair of holders, and the pins constitute a dewformation preventing member manufactured in accordance with theaforementioned method.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, a dew formation preventing membermay easily be manufactured, which has a super water repellent orsuperhydrophilic surface property to be applied to a portion where dewis likely to be formed and to allow dew to be little formed.

A dew formation preventing member having a super water repellent orsuperhydrophilic surface property may be applied to a portion of arefrigerator, where dew is likely to be formed, to prevent dew formationfrom occurring and remarkably reduce power consumption.

Also, an evaporator which needs a periodical defrost operation due tooccurrence of frost is manufactured as a dew formation preventingmember, whereby occurrence of frost may be reduced and a defrostoperation rate may be reduced to reduce power consumption.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method of manufacturing a dewformation preventing member having a super water repellent surfaceaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of manufacturing a dewformation preventing member having a superhydrophilic surface accordingto the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view illustrating a refrigerator in which a dewformation preventing member according to the present invention isapplied to a pillar.

FIG. 4 is a partial cutting perspective view illustrating a pillar in arefrigerator of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a refrigerator in which adew formation preventing member according to the present invention isapplied a switching unit of an ice discharge path.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a switching unit ina refrigerator of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a refrigerator in which a dew formationpreventing member according to the present invention is applied to afront surface of a barrier and a front surface of a cabinet.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an evaporator made of a dew formationpreventing member according to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method of manufacturing a dewformation preventing member having a super water repellent surfaceaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention.

A method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing member having asuper water repellent surface includes the steps of mixing a powderpaint with polytetrafluoroethylene at a predetermined ratio, powderpainting the mixed paint on a plate surface; and heat treating thepowder painted plate.

The dew formation preventing member of the present invention may beapplied to a member where dew is likely to be formed by a temperaturedifference between the inside and the outside.

A refrigerator may be provided with a freezing compartment and arefrigerating compartment as storage compartments inside a cabinet,wherein the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment maybe opened or closed by their respective doors.

The cabinet and the doors are provided with insulating materials thereinto insulate the inside of the storage compartments from heat, and agasket is provided at an edge inside the door and closely attached to afront surface of the cabinet to allow the cool air of the storagecompartments not to leak out.

Since the inside of the storage compartment of the refrigerator ismaintained at a temperature below zero and the outside of the storagecompartment is a room temperature, dew is likely to be formed on aportion of the refrigerator, which is close to the storage compartmentand adjoins the outer air.

For example, when one storage compartment is opened or closed by twodoors, a pillar for selectively sealing a gap between the doors isprovided. Since dew may be formed on a front surface of the pillar, aheater is provided inside the pillar and then heated to prevent dew frombeing formed or evaporate dew.

Also, if a dispenser for providing ice made by an ice maker is provided,since dew may be formed on an inner surface of a switching unit foropening or closing an outlet of an ice discharge path, a heater may beprovided inside the switching unit.

Since dew may be formed outside the gasket on the front surface of thecabinet to which the gasket of the door is closely attached and a frontsurface of a barrier for partitioning the freezing compartment and therefrigerating compartment from each other, a heater may be providedinside the cabinet and the barrier.

The dew formation preventing member is attached to the portion of therefrigerator, where dew is likely to be formed, and then intended thatdew is less formed, and its detailed application example will bedescribed later in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate constituting the dew formationpreventing member is prepared. The substrate may be formed of a flatplate shape, but may have a specific shape such as a front surface ofthe pillar or a rear surface of the switching unit.

The substrate is immersed in a cleaning solution, which includes acetoneand deionized water, to remove oil and particles that may exist on asurface of the substrate and then is subjected to ultrasonic cleaningfor 10 minutes, approximately (S110).

A primer is coated on the surface of the substrate cleaned by ultrasoniccleaning to adhesion with a powder paint (S120).

Most of primers used for a general painting work may be used as theprimer, and a main component of the primer is a water soluble material.A synthetic resin and other additive agents are mixed in the primer.

The primer may thinly be coated on the surface of the substrate by aspray jet.

The substrate coated with the primer may be heated at a temperature of100° C. to 140° C. for 30 minutes and subjected to heat treatment toharden the primer, and then particles on the surface of the substrateare removed.

Next, the powder paint and polytetrafluoroethylene are mixed with eachother to form a super water repellent surface (S130).

An epoxy polyester based thermal hardening powder paint may be used asthe powder paint, and the powder paint may contain epoxy acrylicpolyester as a main component.

The polytetrafluoroethylene is known as a trade name such as Teflon orFluon, and may be abbreviated as PTFE.

The super water repellency means that a contact angle is 150° or moreand a sliding angle is less than 10° when water drop is dropped on thesurface of the substrate.

A flat PTFE structure surface has a water repellent property of acontact angle in the range of 110° . If a rough surface is formed whilemaintaining particle types after PTFE particles are mixed with thepowder paint, excellent super water repellent property of a contactangle of 150° or more and a sliding angle less than 10° may be noted.

Preferably, the powder paint and the polytetrafluoroethylene are mixedwith each other at a ratio of 1:1 to 4:1.

The PTFE particle has a diameter of 1 μm to 10 μm, and surface roughnessmay be varied depending on the diameter of the particle. However, aproper mixture ratio of the powder paint and the PTFE is maintained tobe substantially the same.

If the powder paint and the PTFE are maintained at a ratio of 4:1, it isnoted that a center line average roughness R_(a) is about 8.45 μm, R_(q)is 10.67 μm and a contact angle is 158.7°.

If the powder paint and the PTFE are maintained at a ratio of 2:1, it isnoted that a center line average roughness R_(a) is about 8.79 μm, R_(q)is 11.39 μm and a contact angle is 153.7°. In this case, roughness ismore increased than the ratio of 4:1 but a uniform surface is not formedand adhesion of the PTFE particles is lowered if the PTFE is morecoated.

On the contrary, if the powder paint and the PTFE are maintained at aratio of 8:1, it is noted that a center line average roughness R_(a) isabout 7.76 μm, R_(q) is 10.07 μm and a contact angle is 152.2°. It isnoted that roughness is reduced and dew formation preventing performanceis reduced if the content of the powder paint is increased.

If the dew formation preventing member has a roughness of 8.00 μm ormore and a contact angle is 150° or more, since sufficient dew formationpreventing performance may be exerted, it is preferable that the mixtureratio of the powder paint and the PTFE is in the range of 1:1 to 4:1 asdescribed above.

Next, powder painting is performed for the substrate by using themixture paint by a powder painting equipment (S140).

At this time, it is preferable that an electrostatic voltage applied tothe powder painting equipment with respect to the super water repellentmixture paint is 60kV to 80kV.

Next, the powder paint is hardened and adhesion is reinforced by heattreatment of the powder painted substrate, and surface roughness isformed to expose super water repellency.

To this end, it is preferable that the heat treatment process isperformed through three stages.

The primary heat treatment stage S150 performs heating in a vacuum ovenof 170° C. to 190° C. for 25 minutes to 35 minutes. An air gap betweenthe PTFE particles and the powder paint may be reduced as much aspossible and the powder paint may be melted and then hardened.

The secondary heat treatment step S160 performs heating on a hot plateof 250° C. to 300° C. for 10 minutes to 20 minutes. Adhesion between thePTFE particles and the powder paint may be reinforced.

The third heat treatment step S170 performs heating by using a heatinggun of 450° C. to 550° C. The PTFE particles are softened to reinforceadhesion and form surface roughness.

Finally, the heat treated substrate surface is cleaned using deionizedwater and particles are removed (S180).

Meanwhile, the mixture paint further includes a perfluoroalkoxy enamelpowder. The perfluoroalkoxy may be abbreviated as PFA.

Since durability of the PTFE particles may be insufficient only by heattreatment after mixture of the powder paint and the PTFE, theperfluoroalkoxy enamel powder may be mixed in the PTFE particles toreinforce durability and adhesion of the PTFE particles.

Also, if the powder paint and the PTFE particles are only mixed witheach other, since surface roughness is formed, polishing may be reducedand a problem in view of an esthetic aspect may occur. Therefore, thePFA enamel powder is mixed with the powder paint to perform painting,whereby polishing may be given.

A particle diameter of the PFA enamel powder is 10 μm, approximately.

Preferably, the PTFE and the PFA enamel powder are mixed with each otherat a ratio of 1:1 to 1:2.

If the PFA enamel powder is too much mixed in the mixture paint,adhesion may be reinforced but relatively low surface roughness isformed by softening of the PFA enamel, whereby a desired super waterrepellent surface is not formed.

On the contrary, if the PFA enamel powder is too less mixed in themixture paint, relatively high super water repellent surface is formedbut adhesion reinforcing effect of the PFA enamel powder is notsufficient.

For example, if powder painting is performed by a paint obtained bymixing the powder paint, PTFE and PFA at a ratio of 3:1:2, it is notedthat a contact angle is 147.2° and a sliding angle is 60°.

If powder painting is performed by a paint obtained by mixing the powderpaint, PTFE and PFA at a ratio of 3:1:1, it is noted that a contactangle is 150.4° and a sliding angle is 60°. In this case, it is notedthat surface roughness and super water repellency are greater than thoseof the paint mixed in the range of 3:1:2.

If powder painting is performed by a paint obtained by mixing the powderpaint, PTFE and PFA at a ratio of 3:1:3, it is noted that a contactangle is 142.2° and a sliding angle is pinned. In this case, it is notedthat adhesion of the PTFE particles is more increased than that of thepaint mixed in the range of 3:1:2 but surface roughness and super waterrepellency are reduced.

Therefore, it is preferable that a mixture ratio of the powder paint,PTFE and PFA is 1˜4:1:1˜2.

Since the dew formation preventing member manufactured by theaforementioned manufacturing method has a super water repellent surface,the dew formation preventing member is applied to the portion where dewis likely to be formed, whereby dew may be less formed or the heater maybe driven for a shorter time to easily evaporate dew.

Also, since the PFA enamel powder is contained in the powder paint andthus the powder paint has a predetermined polishing level, estheticeffect may be given to even the portion which is externally exposed, andthe portion has excellent durability.

Next, a method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing member havinga super hydrophilic surface according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing member having asuper hydrophilic surface according to the present invention comprisesthe steps of immersing a substrate in an electro deposition paint, andapplying a direct current to perform electro deposition painting; heattreating the substrate that has undergone the electro depositionpainting; and plasma treating the surface of the substrate that hasundergone the electro deposition painting.

The superhydrophilic property means that a contact angle is less than10° when water drop is dropped on the surface.

As shown in FIG. 2, a substrate constituting the dew formationpreventing member is immersed in a cleaning solution, which includesacetone and deionized water, to remove oil and particles that may existon a surface of the substrate and then is subjected to ultrasoniccleaning for 10 minutes, approximately (S210).

Next, the cleaned substrate is immersed in an electro deposition paintand a direct current is applied to the substrate to perform electrodeposition painting (S220).

The direct current of about 30V may be applied for 10 minutes during theelectro deposition painting.

The electro deposition paint may include melamine formaldehyde as ananode electro deposition paint, and may include aromatic polyurethane asa cathode electro deposition paint.

Afterwards, the substrate painted with the electro deposition paint iscleaned using deionized water of a small content to remove particles,thereby forming a smooth painting surface (S230).

Next, the substrate painted with the electro deposition paint is heattreated to harden the electro deposition paint (S240).

The heat treatment step performs heating by using a heating gun of 250°C. to 350° C. to harden the electro deposition paint.

Afterwards, the surface of the substrate painted with the electrodeposition paint is plasma treated (S250).

The plasma treatment step may etch the surface painted with the electrodeposition paint in a vacuum chamber using an inert gas plasma of aradio frequency power of 100 W to 300 W for 5 minutes to 200 minutes.

The plasma treatment may supply an inert gas such as argon at a flowrate of 30 sccm, construct a plasma inner condition and then etch thesurface painted with the electro deposition paint by applying a radiofrequency power of 13.56 MHz and 300 W.

In this case, a vacuum pressure is about 8.0×10⁻² Torr, and a distancebetween the substrate surface and an electrode is about 70 mm.

In this case, it is noted that a center line average roughness R_(a) ofthe substrate surface is 508.28 nm and square mean roughness R_(q) is699.57 nm to indicate superhydrophilic property. It is also noted thatdew of a very small size is formed.

If RF power of 300 W is applied for about 80 minutes, R_(a) is 455.218nm and R_(q) is 602.06 nm and it is noted that surface roughness isreduced.

If RF power of 200 W is applied for about 80 minutes, R_(a) is 122.03 nmand R_(q) is 315.55 nm and it is noted that surface roughness is morereduced.

For example, since it is preferable that R_(a) is 500 nm or more toindicate that the substrate surface has superhydrophilic property, it ispreferable that RF power of 300 W or more is applied for 120 minutes ormore during electro deposition painting.

However, although the RF power and the plasma operation time may bevaried depending on electrode arrangement during plasma treatmentprocess, a power of a plasma treatment equipment, and an environment ofa vacuum chamber, it is preferable that a plasma process condition isset such that center line average roughness R_(a) is 500 nm or more toimplement dew formation preventing effect on the superhydrophilicsurface.

Next, the plasma treated substrate is taken out of a vacuum chamber andnaturally cooled to reach a room temperature (S260).

Finally, the electro deposition painted substrate surface ofsuperhydrophilic property is cleaned using a nitrogen gun to removeparticles thereon (S270).

The dew formation preventing member having a superhydrophilic surface,which is manufactured in accordance with the present invention, has aheat transfer area which becomes greater if dew is formed in a film typeand the surface has high roughness, dew may easily be evaporated even ata room temperature, and may be removed efficiently even though smallheat is supplied to the heater.

Hereinafter, embodiments that the dew formation preventing membermanufactured by the aforementioned manufacturing method is applied tothe refrigerator will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the refrigerator according to one embodiment of thepresent invention is a bottom freezer type refrigerator in which arefrigerating compartment is arranged on a cabinet and a freezingcompartment is arranged below the cabinet. Therefore, the refrigeratingcompartment door is rotatably provided at an upper portion, and in thisembodiment, two doors, that is, refrigerating compartment left door 2and a refrigerating compartment right door 3 are provided to be openedor closed at both sides on the front surface of the refrigeratingcompartment.

The refrigerating compartment opened or closed by the refrigeratingcompartment left door 2 and the refrigerating compartment right door 3may be partitioned into two storage compartments by a barrier (notshown) provided at the center portion in a vertical direction. However,in this embodiment, the barrier is not provided at the center portion ofthe refrigerating compartment, and the refrigerating compartment isprovided to be opened or closed by two doors.

In this way, since two doors 2 and 3 are provided on the front surfaceof the refrigerating compartment but the barrier is not provided at thecenter portion of the refrigerating compartment, a pillar 10 for fillinga gap between adjacent portions when the left door 2 and the right door3 are closed.

The pillar 10 may be provided in various shapes, and in this embodiment,the pillar 10 is rotatably provided at a right corner portion of therefrigerating compartment left door 2. When the refrigeratingcompartment left door 2 is opened, the pillar 10 may backwardly berotated by cam action at an angle of 90°.

In detail, a cam member (not shown) is provided at an upper end of thepillar 10 to rotate the pillar 10. The cam member is rotated in contactwith a pin member provided to be downwardly protruded at the upper endof the center portion of the refrigerating compartment.

As the pin member is rotated in contact with the cam member when therefrigerating compartment left door 2 starts to be opened, the pillar 10to which the cam member is fixed is also rotated backwardly at an angleof 90°.

A sectional structure of the pillar 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present invention is shown in FIG. 4.

As shown, the pillar 10 includes an inner case 12 headed for a rear sideof the refrigerating compartment when the refrigerating compartment leftdoor 2 is closed, an outer case 14 coupled with the inner case 12 at thefront of the refrigerating compartment, and an insulator 16 filled inthe two cases 12 and 14 and foamed.

The pillar 10 may rotatably be provided to the refrigerating compartmentleft door 2 as a rotary shaft holder portion 13 is coupled thereto.

The outer case 14 of the pillar 10 is partially exposed to the outsideof the refrigerator and then in contact with the external air when therefrigerating compartment left door 2 and the refrigerating compartmentright door 3 are closed. Therefore, since a temperature inside therefrigerating compartment is lower than a temperature outside therefrigerating compartment when the refrigerator is operated, dew may beformed on the surface of the outer case 14 of the pillar 10.

That is, the pillar 10 is cooled by the air inside the refrigeratingcompartment cooled at a low temperature, whereas dew is formed on thesurface of the outer case 14 of the pillar 10 exposed by the outer airof a relatively high temperature.

To prevent dew from being formed on the outer surface of the pillar 10,a heater 18 made of a heating wire may be provided on an inner side ofthe outer case 14 of the pillar 10. This heater 18 is provided in such amanner that the insulator 16 is injected into the heater 16 and thenfoamed in a state that the heater is attached to the inner side of theouter case 14.

The dew formation preventing member having a super water repellentproperty or a superhydrophilic surface manufactured in accordance withthe aforementioned manufacturing method is attached to the front surfaceof the outer case 14. The outer case 14 may be a substrate of the dewformation preventing member.

Since the front surface of the pillar 10 is formed of a super waterrepellent surface or a superhydropilic surface, dew may be less formedthan the related art pillar, which is not surface treated, even thoughthe heater 18 is not operated, very small water drop is formed eventhough dew is formed. Therefore, since the heater 18 may be operated fora short time, power consumption may be reduced remarkably.

Next, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a refrigerator thatincludes an ice maker and a dispenser provided inside a refrigeratingcompartment in the refrigerator of FIG. 3.

The refrigerator of the shown embodiment is provided with an ice maker20 provided inside the refrigerating compartment at an upper portion ofthe main body 1 in the bottom freezer type refrigerator. The ice maker20 includes an ice making tray for making ice by being supplied withwater and an ice keeping and feeding unit for keeping ice made by theice making tray and feeding ice as the user operates the dispenser 50.

An ice discharge duct 30 serving as a path for guiding ice to thedispenser 50 provided in the door 2 of the refrigerator is providedbelow an ice outlet of the ice keeping and feeding unit.

In order that the cool air inside the ice maker 20 does not leak thoughthe ice discharge duct 30 when ice is not discharged through the icedischarge duct 30, the switching unit 40 is rotatably provided at thelower end of the ice discharge duct 30.

The switching unit 40 is provided to block leakage of the cool air, butis selectively provided to be opened or closed because the ice dischargeduct 30 should be opened when ice is discharged.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the switching unit 40 includes a main body 41which is in contact with the lower end of the ice discharge duct 30, acover 42 coupled with the main body 41, and an insulator 43 filled in aspace where the main body 41 and the cover 42 are coupled with eachother and formed therein.

Also, a heater 45 for preventing dew from being formed on an outersurface of the cover 42 is provided on the inner surface of the cover 42of the switching unit 40. Since a temperature of the inner air of theice discharge duct 30 is lower than that of the outer air to which thecover 42 of the switching unit 40 is exposed, dew may be formed on thesurface of the cover 42 exposed to the outer air. The heater 45 mayselectively heat the switching unit 40 to prevent dew from being formed.

The heater 45 may be provided in such a manner that a heating wire bentin a predetermined shape is buried in a flat type plate. However, theheater 45 may be provided in another shape without limitation to theshown embodiment.

Also, a lever 47 rotatably provided at an upper portion of the case ofthe dispenser 50 is coupled to the outer surface of the cover 42. Thelever 48 selectively opens the ice discharge duct 30 by rotating theswitching unit 40 when the user manipulates the dispenser 50 todischarge ice.

The dew formation preventing member having a super water repellentsurface or a superhydrophilic surface manufactured in accordance withthe aforementioned manufacturing method is attached to the outer surfaceof the cover 42. A protrusion formed to be protruded to fix the lever 47may be formed to the outer surface of the cover 42. In this way, eventhough the outer surface of the cover 42 is not a flat surface, thecover 42 may be used as the substrate to be coated with a super waterrepellent surface or a superhydrophilic surface, whereby the cover 42may be a dew formation preventing member.

Since the outer surface of the cover 42 is formed of a super waterrepellent surface or a superhydrophilic surface, dew may be less formedthan the related art pillar, which is not surface treated, even thoughthe heater 45 is not operated, very small water drop is formed eventhough dew is formed. Therefore, since the heater 18 may be operated fora short time, power consumption may be reduced remarkably.

A refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present inventionis shown in FIG. 7.

The shown refrigerator is a side by side type refrigerator in which afreezing compartment 61 is provided at a left side of a cabinet 60 and arefrigerating compartment 63 is provided at a right side of the cabinet60.

The freezing compartment 61 and the refrigerating compartment 63 arepartitioned by a barrier 65 provided therebetween. The freezingcompartment 61 may be opened or closed by a freezing door compartment 62which is rotated, and the refrigerating compartment 63 may be opened orclosed by a refrigerating compartment door 64.

When the freezing compartment door 62 and the refrigerating compartmentdoor 64 are closed, a gasket of each door is closely attached to a frontsurface of the cabinet 60 and a front surface of the barrier 65. Dew islikely to be formed on the front surface of the cabinet 60 and the frontsurface of the barrier 65 toward the outside of the gasket.

Therefore, a heater 70 is provided just behind the front surface of thecabinet 60 and the front surface of the barrier 65 to prevent dew frombeing formed thereon.

The heater 70 may be a heating wire, or may be a hot pipe of arefrigerant pipe constituting a cooling cycle, wherein a refrigerant ofa high temperature moves in the hot pipe.

In this case, the dew formation preventing member having a super waterrepellent surface or a superhydrophilic surface manufactured inaccordance with the aforementioned manufacturing method is attached tothe front surface of the cabinet 60 and the front surface of the barrier65. The front surface of the cabinet 60 and the front surface of thebarrier 65 may be the substrate serving as the dew formation preventingmember.

Since the front surface of the cabinet 60 and the front surface of thebarrier 65 may be the super water repellent surface or thesuperhydrophilic surface, the amount of dew which is formed may bereduced considerably, and dew may completely be removed even though theheater 70 is operated for a short time.

An evaporator 80 formed of a dew formation preventing member accordingto the present invention is shown in FIG. 8.

The evaporator 80 includes a refrigerant pipe 82, in which a refrigerantmoves, provided to be heat exchanged with the air moving near therefrigerant, a pair of holders 84 for fixing the refrigerant pipe, pins86 provided on an outer surface of the refrigerant pipe, expediting heatexchange, and a defrost heater 90 provided near the refrigerant pipe,performing heating to remove frost generated in the refrigerant pipe andthe pins.

The refrigerant pipe 82, the pair of holders 84, and the pins 86 mayconstitute a dew formation preventing member manufactured in accordancewith the aforementioned manufacturing method of the present invention.

That is, after the refrigerant pipe 82, the pair of holders 84 and thepins 86 may respectively be manufactured and assembled to form anevaporator 80, powder painting and super water repellent coating such asheat treatment are applied to the evaporator 80 in accordance with thepresent invention, whereby a super water repellent surface may be formedon the evaporator 80.

According to the evaporator of the present invention, dew is formed onthe super water repellent surface of the evaporator 80 and thus theamount of frost generated from the dew may be reduced remarkably,whereby a defrost operation ratio for operating the defrost heater 90may be reduced remarkably.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing fromthe spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. Thus, theabove embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention should be determined byreasonable interpretation of the appended claims and all change whichcomes within the equivalent scope of the invention are included in thescope of the invention.

1. A method of manufacturing a dew formation preventing member, themethod comprising the steps of: mixing a powder paint withpolytetrafluorethylene at a predetermined ratio; powder painting themixed paint on a substrate surface; and heat treating the powder paintedsubstrate.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powder paintand the polytetrafluorethylene are mixed with each other at a ratio of1:1 to 4:1.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the powder paintis an epoxy polyester based thermal hardening powder paint.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein a constant voltage applied to apowder painting equipment during the powder painting step is 60kV to80kV.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the heat treating stepincludes a primary heat treatment step for heating in a vacuum oven of170° C. to 190° C. for 25 minutes to 35 minutes; a secondary heattreatment step for heating on a hot plate of 250° C. to 300° C. for 10minutes to 20 minutes, and a third heat treatment step for heating byusing a heating gun of 450° C. to 550° C.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising the step of ultrasonic cleaning thesubstrate by using acetone and deionized water before the mixing step.7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step ofcoating a primer on the substrate surface to reinforce adhesion betweenpowder paints after the ultrasonic cleaning step.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein the primer coating step includes coatingthe primer by spraying the primer on the substrate surface, and heattreating in a vacuum oven at a temperature of about 100° C. to 140° C.9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step ofcleaning the heat treated substrate surface using deionized water afterthe heat treating step.
 10. The method according to claim 2, wherein themixed paint further includes a perfluoroalkoxy enamel powder.
 11. Themethod according to claim 10, wherein the polytetrafluorethylene and theperfluoroalkoxy enamel powder are mixed with each other at a ratio of1:1 to 1:2.
 12. A method of manufacturing a dew formation preventingmember, the method comprising the steps of: immersing a substrate in anelectro deposition paint, and applying a direct current voltage toperform electro deposition painting; heat treating the substrate paintedwith the electro deposition paint; and plasma treating the surface ofthe substrate painted with the electro deposition paint.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the electro paint includes melamineformaldehyde as an anode electro deposition paint, and includes aromaticpolyurethane as a cathode electro deposition paint.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the heat treating step performs heatingby using a heating gun of 250° C. to 350° C. to harden the electrodeposition paint.
 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein theplasma treating step etches the surface painted with the electrodeposition paint in a vacuum chamber using argon plasma of a radiofrequency power of 100 W to 300 W for 5 minutes to 200 minutes.
 16. Themethod according to claim 12, further comprising the step of ultrasoniccleaning the substrate using acetone and deionized water before theelectro deposition painting step.
 17. The method according to claim 16,further comprising the step of cleaning the substrate using deionizedwater after the electro deposition painting step.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 17, further comprising the step of natural coolingthe substrate to reach a room temperature by taking the substrate out ofthe vacuum chamber after the plasma treating step.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 18, further comprising the step of cleaning thesurface of the substrate painted with electro deposition paint using anitrogen gun after the natural cooling step.
 20. A refrigeratorcomprising: a cabinet having a storage compartment therein; a first doorrotatably provided at one side of the cabinet, opening or closing oneside of the storage compartment; a second door rotatably provided at theother side of the cabinet, opening or closing the other side of thestorage compartment; a pillar rotatably provided in the second door,sealing a gap between the first door and the second door when the firstdoor and the second door area closed; and a heater provided inside thepillar, heating a front surface of the pillar to prevent dew from beingformed, wherein a dew formation preventing member manufactured inaccordance with any one of claims 1 to 11 is attached to the frontsurface of the pillar. 21-26. (canceled)